The Choices We Make
by ineffablerhapsody
Summary: It comprises mostly my OC's, and explores the Narutoverse through them. I tend to derp a lot.
1. Prologue

The room was silent, as a man and a woman sat opposite each other; both awkward and tense. It had been months since their last interaction, months since they were last briefed.

"Miwa," the man said, finally breaking the silence. He raised his eyes to the women and at the mention of her name she stared at him anxiously, "Can I call you that now?" he then added,

"…Might as well," she muttered, heaving a sigh. Then Miwa shook her head shamefully and looked away, placing a hand on her stomach.

"Do you," the man tried to start, he leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table. "Do you want to talk…about this?" Things grew silent again. Tension increased, and the man pursed his lips. "Miwa, you can't be having second thoughts, we've already accepted the mission; we cannot back out now even if we wanted to—"

"Aren't you having second thoughts Irie-san?! This…what we're doing, it's wrong!" Miwa retorted, appearing visibly distressed. The man brought a hand up to his face, holding his head in his hands.

"Of course this bothers me, but we made the choice! We have to see this mission through—"

"Not if we speak to the Hokage! I don't want to—"

"Miwa please!" The man shouted, slamming his fist to the table. Miwa blinked in fear as the man stood up. "You knew what we were getting into, if anything…this mission values you over me, without you then none of this would be possible. Miwa, try to remember what it is we're doing. We're protecting the village, this is our duty. It takes a certain person to do something like this, Danzou-sama said it himself; we are the ones able to bear this kind of burden. If we don't, then no one will."

Although painful to hear, the man had a point. The fact that he was right just made things worse, and the man moved toward her with the intent to comfort.

"I…understand," her face tilted up and she stared at him with fixated eyes, "but this child, it will never be normal because of its abilities." Miwa whispered back, her voice full of concern. "I never wanted a child…that's why I thought I could do this…but, now I'm not so sure." She whispered mournfully,

"Tadao," she began, and he placed a hand on her shoulder, "This child is going to grow up to be…Danzou's. Is that really what's best? After all…this child is just as much yours as it is mine." Tadao took a deep breath; he obviously pondered this and was just as shaken about everything as his partner, but he knew that this was the right thing to do.

"This child is going to grow up a true shinobi. It will be born with such a fate, so all we can do is make sure everything goes accordingly." Miwa turned away from him, and he blinked in confusion.

"I should have never accepted this mission!" She finally said, but Tadao comforted her, holding her close.

"But you did…as have I. Think of it this way, this is our ultimate sacrifice for Konoha. All we can do for the child," he said placing his hands on her pregnant belly. "Is make sure it is loved, and pass on our love of Konoha onto it. Be strong," The partners understood that the child would never be theirs to keep. Danzou would one day come for it, but until then, they were still the child's parents…


	2. Chapter 1

Susumu, a young Konoha genin, gave a groan as he lost sight of the target. "Aww man, I was right on top of him too, damn it!" He pouted and pressed on his mic to contact his other teammates.

"Yo, Ayame I just lost him," He said eyeing the surrounding area for signs of life "See if you can sense where he went, it shouldn't be too far from my current location,"

"Roger!" Suddenly a sound came from above him and Susumu glanced up in surprise as leaves fluttered around him.

"Jun!" he said in surprise as his other teammate stood on a large tree branch above him and took off without a word, in response Susumu rolled his eyes and followed behind. Jun looked back to Susumu, silently berating him with a glare; he tried to stay cool and fight the stare with his own, but he soon lowered his eyes.

"Don't screw this up again," Jun whispered turning back to the front. Jun was right, and Susumu knew it, he'd been blundering missions left and right...Jun had the right to be angry with him.

"I won't," although he said those words he was no longer confident in his abilities and grew nervous with his teammate present to observe his failures.

"Susumu I'm guessing the other person with you is Jun, you both are closer than I am to the target, he's stopped about 10 meters north east of your position, I'll meet you there ok?" came a voice from Susumu's speaker.

"Understood," Jun replied back into the mic. Susumu was motioned to move across from the target so they could surround him; he gave a nod, silently getting into position. The two teammates crept closer to their target, and soon he was within sight. The foliage shifted as the target moved unseen between the two nin, having changed it's course heading right for Susumu. Jun caught his eye, and Susumu knew this would be his moment to prove he wasn't a failure to Jun. He readied himself and when the target was within reach, he tackled him.

"UWAAAAAH!" Susumu's screams filled the air as he struggled with the writhing target, "JUN HELP!" with a sigh Jun brought a hand up to their face in disappointment. The target hissed at Susumu, using its claws to its advantage and scratched Susumu's face; although Susumu could heal rather quickly, the ordeal with the cat was still horrifying. He let the target fall to the ground as he clutched his chest in fright,

"Susumu! You're letting him get away!" Jun yelled pointing to the escaping feline, but before it could lose the teammates, Ayame arrived just in time to scoop up the target.

"Aww isn't he cute?"

"Yeah when he's not trying to rip your FACE OFF!" Susumu exclaimed pointing a finger at the cat, "I don't understand, why does this guy always run away, this is like the third time we've had to recapture him...we should buy the owner a leash or something!"

"Hey, should we tell Yasu-sensei we're done?" Ayame asked petting the cat, who was far more comfortable in Ayame's arms and purred as the blonde boy scratched behind the cat's ear.

"We'll contact her after we return the cat to the owner." Jun said pulling off the mic attachment from their neck and moved off with Ayame trailing behind.

"..." this sort of thing was becoming more common...Susumu would have the chance to complete the mission but something stupid would happen and he'd mess up.

"H-HEY! Wait up you guys!"

After the trio had delivered the cat back to the owner, they went off to regroup with their teacher Yasu. All the while Susumu replayed the scene in his mind, wondering how he could've messed up this time

"Aw, cheer up Susumu, we already know you're an idiot-" Ayame tried to say

"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ME FEEL BETTER!" he seethed. The boy gave a sigh and rolled his eyes, "Psh, but maybe if we did ACTUAL missions, I could prove how skilled I am, yeah!" he began muttering to himself, "If I can just get sensei to let us take on a C-rank, o-or a B-rank, yeah! Then everyone will see how-"

"If anything," Ayame cut in, flashing a toothy grin, "You're the reason sensei makes us do D-rank at all! Nyahaha," With a growl, Susumu tried to tackle Ayame, but his teammate was far too agile, and he leapt away.

"Why you! Come back here!" he shouted as he tried chasing the other boy. Before he could lay his hands on Ayame, Jun grabbed him by the back of his collar, stopping him in his tracks,

"..." all it took was a silent stare for both to behave. Ayame gave a pout despondently, and narrowed his eyes at Susumu, "Well he started it-"

"Maybe if your brother wasn't such a jerk-"

"See! He called me a jerk!" the two continued bickering, but that trailed off soon when they caught Jun's unamused stare. Over the time they'd all spent together, Jun was by far the most serious, and seriously skilled; Ayame was a close second, but he never took anything seriously like his sibling, they were complete opposites. Susumu was the third wheel, he felt like a burden amongst the twins as they seemed to be able to do everything better when he wasn't around. This haphazard display of teamwork was the real reason they had yet to progress to difficult missions.


	3. Chapter 2

"Ah, I see you've finished the mission, and this time not a scratch on anyone." The team's teacher mused. She circled the three nin, and gathered them around her excitedly. "At this rate, you'll be taking your first C-rank in maybe a couple months—"

"What?!" Susumu shouted, he ducked out of the huddle and gave a groan. "But sensei! We've been doing these boring D-rank missions for weeks! It's a waste of time—GUAH?!" His teacher's hand moved quickly, whacking her student upside the head. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Listen kid if you don't like it then gimme a reason to give you harder missions." she grabbed him by the ear and began dragging him out of the room, with Jun and Ayame following behind. "Sooo! You three think you're so tough eh?"

"Owowowowow! Yasu-sensei! Let me go!" she did what he asked, but only to cross her arms in annoyance.

"Haven't you learned anything?"

"Oh! Pick me sensei!" flailed Ayame,

"Sigh," Yasu rubbed her temple impatiently and ushered for the boy to continue, "Let's keep the cat related things to a minimum kid,"

"Then…I got nothing," he pouted pulling his hand down.

"Jun, please, can you give us a reasonable answer," Yasu said turning to Jun.

"…" Jun was silent for a minute, but soon gave an answer. "I can tell you what was not learned."

"Listen sensei, if this is about me messing up once or twice," Susumu added, "Then you've got nothing to worry about. I'm waaaaay better during actual missions," his obvious hinting at taking on harder missions was met with more annoyance from their teacher.

"Tomorrow, early in the morning, I want to see all of you at the training grounds," once she'd finished giving her instructions she turned to leave.

The three genin awaited the arrival of their teacher, and tried to pass the time as best they could.

"Watch it!" Susumu yelled, as a badly thrown kunai landed at his feet. Ayame held back a laugh and got ready to throw another kunai as Susumu gave a glare. "Why don't you practice on a dummy or something," Susumu replied angrily, unaware of the situation he'd set himself up for.

"Pffft, because I have you!" Ayame guffawed. At the implication of being a practice dummy, Susumu's mouth twitched into scowl. "Aww, cheer up Susumu, even if I were to hit you, you'd heal really fast anyway." The other boy replied jovially, although his words hadn't diffused the situation in the slightest.

"Why don't you practice with your sister? Jun, you're probably a much better—"

"Ayame doesn't need the practice," came her quick reply. It soon became clear that Ayame's horrible shots had been on purpose, and the boy gave a shrug.

"Eheh, what's a couple of stab wounds between friends…would you believe friendly fire?" However Susumu had reached his limit, and gathered all the kunai around him and marched towards the blonde boy. "Ok, ok! I promise I won't ever do it again! Unless…you deserved it—" the kunai were shoved into his hands and Susumu said no more, walking towards Jun who leaned against a tree nonchalantly. He plopped down on the ground, crossing his arms in frustration.

They waited for a few more minutes, and finally Yasu walked over to the three, by now all three of them were lounging under the shade. Their teacher rolled her eyes, ushering for them to stand up,

"C'mon guys,"

"What are we gonna do today sensei?" she gave a chuckle, as if it were obvious, and the team was lead towards the mission office, "No…No, no, no! You're making us do D-rank missions again aren't you?!" Susumu shouted,

"Hmph, if you don't like D-rank missions then give me one good reason why I should let you do otherwise?"

"Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! Sensei! I know!" Ayame waved his hands in the air, pulling his sister close. "Jun and I always did what we were told! Tell her Jun!" Jun slid out of her brother's grip, crossing her arms in the process and walking ahead of them.

"The decision is not mine to make…" her two teammates groaned as she didn't side with them. Yasu opened the doors into the missions office and followed her team in.

"UWAH!? AHAHAHA! HOKAGE!" Susumu bolted to where the Hokage was sitting, and placed his hands on the table excitedly as the Hokage looked up. "Hokage! Please make our teacher let us go on a C-rank-GAH?!" Their teacher grabbed Susumu by the ear and yanked him aside.

"You idiot! You can't just address the Hokage like that—"

"It's fine Yasu," he said, holding up a hand to calm her. He smiled at Susumu in amusement, "How are all of you doing? Susumu, Ayame…Jun," he eyed her for a moment, as if directing the question to her. Instead of resuming her silence she gave a response.

"I'm fine,"

"Good, tell me Jun, do you think you're ready for harder missions?" The Hokage pried, clasping his hands together patiently.

"…The decision is not mine to make," Yasu rolled her eyes at her student's response and flicked Jun in the head

"Hey, you're talking to your Hokage, stop acting so aloof! Sorry about them…they are pretty sick of D-rank missions. I guess, since you guys keep complaining I could take up a C-rank." She heaved a sigh, "Kids these days,"

"I'm sure the three of them will surprise you and make you proud."

She walked over to the stand, and the man sitting there eyed the team and gave a nod.

"You can take this mission. Just deliver this, and then you'll be done. There's nothing difficult about this one at all," he told their teacher. Susumu but in, pleading with the man at the stand.

"What? No, give us a harder mission! C'mon sensei are you really going to take—"

"Perfect!" They were handed the package and their teacher gave it to Susumu. "There, you've got the most important job, are you happy?" Susumu glanced down at the package with a pout.

"…"

"Aww, think about it this way Susumu, if anything goes down then you'll be the first person they'll want to kill. That's the burden of responsibility—"

"Ayame nothing you say ever makes me feel better!" he replied angrily. His teammate gave a shrug, and rested his arm on Jun's shoulder.

"The stress is already getting to him." Jun heaved a sigh, turning to their teacher Yasu.

"Where is this being delivered?" she asked bluntly.

"A small village about half a day's walk from our own. Let's see," their teacher continued reading the package information. "We've got to give this to some old guy called Aoba. Huh, no last name, that's a red-flag."

"Does that mean this mission might be more dangerous than you thought?" Susumu asked with growing interest. Yasu gave a shrug, dismissing her concern and ushered her students out. "This is gonna be awesome! Ah, we're so cool! A C-rank mission!" Susumu squeed.

"If we do well on this maybe we can go on a B-rank!" Ayame joined in.

"Yeah!"

"YEAH!" Jun walked quietly behind her brother, and Ayame nudged her playfully to join in as both boys wondered why she wasn't excited. "C'mon Jun You should be happy! I thought you were complaining about the D-rank missions as well?"

"…It doesn't matter, at the end of the day, we're just following orders—"

"As a konoha nin, you've been instilled with the ideals and morals of our village, you should know by now why we exist; as a shinobi you are not merely a tool for the village, you are an extension of the village. We exist to carry out the jobs our fellow people cannot; because we are capable of protecting our friends and families we are the ones tasked with missions in the first place. Don't you kids see? Without a village a shinobi is just a person, it's only when we have something to protect or care about that we truly become a shinobi. Now I want all three of you to at least try to understand, Jun…can you do that?"

"…Is that an order?"

"…Do I have to make it one?"


End file.
